Accumulating evidence suggests that modulating the sigma 2 receptor (Sig2R) can provide beneficial effects for neurodegenerative diseases. Herein, we report the identification of a novel class of Sig2R binding ligands and their cellular and in vivo activity in experimental models of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We report that SAS-0132 and DKR-1051, selective ligands of Sig2R, modulate intracellular Ca(2+) levels in human SK-N-SH neuroblastoma cells. The Sig2R antagonists SAS-0132 and JVW-1009 are neuroprotective in a C...

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are nuclear receptors that function as ligand-dependent transcription factors that can be activated by different types of fatty acids (FAs). Three isoforms of PPARs have been identify, namely, PPARα, PPARβ/δ, and PPARγ, which are able to bind long-chain polyunsaturated FAs (LCPUFAs), n-3 LCPUFAs being bound with greater affinity to achieve activation. FA binding induces a conformational change of the nuclear receptors, triggering the transcription of specific genes including those encoding for various metabolic and cellular processes such as FA β-oxidation and adipogenesis, thus representing key mediators of lipid homeostasis...

Disruption of iron homeostasis in brain has been found to be closely involved in several neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies have reported that appropriate intermittent hypobaric hypoxia played a protective role in brain injury caused by acute hypoxia. However, the mechanisms of this protective effect have not been fully understood. In this study, Sprague-Dawley rat models were developed by hypobaric hypoxia treatment in an altitude chamber, and the iron level and iron related protein levels were determined in rat brain after four weeks of treatment...

Neurofibrillary pathology of abnormally hyperphosphorylated tau is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK-3β) signaling pathway is pivotal for tau phosphorylation. Inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) metabolism has been shown to effectively increase the accumulation of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), which are cytochrome P450 metabolites of arachidonic acid and have been demonstrated to have neuroprotective effects...

Tyrosinemia type II is a rare autosomal recessive disease caused by deficiency of hepatic tyrosine aminotransferase and is associated with neurologic and development difficulties in numerous patients. Considering that the mechanisms underlying the neurological dysfunction in hypertyrosinemic patients are poorly known and that high concentrations of tyrosine provoke mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, in the present study we investigated the in vivo influence of antioxidants (N-acetylcysteine, NAC; and deferoxamine, DFX) administration on the inhibitory effects on parameters of energy metabolism in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum of rats, provoked by chronic administration of L...

N-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) including α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have anti-inflammatory effects and neuronal protective functions and may benefit prevention of dementia; however, the epidemiological evidence is very limited. Therefore, the literature about the association between n-3 PUFA and dementia was searched, by using Pubmed. In the analyses of observational studies, n-3 PUFA has been reported to be beneficially associated with dementia in 17 studies; however, the beneficial association between n-3 PUFA and dementia was denied by three studies...

Increasing evidence suggests that the impaired neuroprotection of vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) contributes to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease. That has been linked to aberrant subcellular retrograde trafficking as strongly indicated by recent genomic studies on familial Parkinson's diseases. However, whether VMAT2 function is regulated by retrograde trafficking is unknown. By using biochemistry and cell biology approaches, we have shown that VMAT2 was stringently localized to the trans-Golgi network and underwent retrograde trafficking in non-neuronal cells...

Cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury can result in neuronal death, which further results in brain damage and can even lead to death. Although recent studies showed that rosmarinic acid (RA) exerts neuroprotective effects and attenuates ischemia-induced brain injury and neuronal cell death, little is known about the precise mechanisms that occur during cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the underlying mechanism of the neuroprotective effects of RA against ischemic brain injury induced by cerebral I/R...

Recent study has suggested that estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) can decrease the risk of the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and phytoestrogen has been proposed as a potential alternative to ERT. In this study, we investigated the protective function of puerarin (a phytoestrogen isolated from puerarin lobate) against amyloid beta (Aβ1-42)-induced toxicity in cortical neurons and established the connection between such a protection and estrogen receptor (ER) activation. Puerarin suppressed Aβ1-42-induced cortical neuron death in a concentration-dependent manner...

The Akt/CREB signalling pathway is involved in neuronal survival and protection. Autophagy is also likely to be involved in survival mechanisms. Nimodipine is an L-type calcium channel antagonist that reduces excessive calcium influx during pathological conditions (contributing to its neuroprotective properties). However, the potential role of nimodipine in autophagic and Akt/CREB signalling is not well understood. In addition, little is known about the relationship between autophagic and Akt/CREB signalling...

Oxidative stress plays a key role in age-related macular degeneration and hereditary retinal degenerations. Light damage in rodents has been used extensively to model oxidative stress-induced photoreceptor degeneration, and photo-oxidative injury from blue light is particularly damaging to photoreceptors. The endogenous factors protecting photoreceptors from oxidative stress, including photo-oxidative stress, are continuing to be elucidated. In this study, we evaluated the effect of blue light exposure on photoreceptors and its relationship to Nrf2 using cultured murine photoreceptor (661W) cells...

Neurodegenerative diseases are disorders related to the degeneration of central neurons that gradually lead to various, severe alterations of cognitive and/or motor functions. Currently, for no such diseases does any pharmacological treatment exist able to arrest its progression. Riluzole (1) is a small molecule able to interfere with multiple cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, and is the only approved treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the progression of which proved to significantly slow, thus increasing somewhat average survival...

Axon injury can lead to several cell survival responses including increased stability and axon regeneration. Using an accessible Drosophila model system, we investigated the regulation of injury responses and their relationship. Axon injury stabilizes the rest of the cell, including the entire dendrite arbor. After axon injury we found mitochondrial fission in dendrites was upregulated, and that reducing fission increased stabilization or neuroprotection (NP). Thus axon injury seems to both turn on NP, but also dampen it by activating mitochondrial fission...

There is growing evidence that obesity can lead to neurodegeneration induced by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α). Moreover, obesity is associated with reduced transport of insulin through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Insulin deficiency in the brain especially in the hypothalamus region has neurodegenerative and obesity-promoting effects. Because of the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of vitamin D, in the current experimental study, we aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin D supplementation on neurodegeneration, TNF-α concentration in the hypothalamus, and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to serum ratio of insulin in high-fat-diet-induced obese rats...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) represents a critical health problem of which diagnosis, management, and treatment remain challenging. TBI is a contributing factor in approximately one-third of all injury-related deaths in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1.7 million people suffer a TBI in the United States annually. Efforts continue to focus on elucidating the complex molecular mechanisms underlying TBI pathophysiology and defining sensitive and specific biomarkers that can aid in improving patient management and care...

Bile acids, a structurally related group of molecules derived from cholesterol, have a long history as therapeutic agents in medicine, from treatment for primarily ocular diseases in ancient Chinese medicine to modern day use as approved drugs for certain liver diseases. Despite evidence supporting a neuroprotective role in a diverse spectrum of age-related neurodegenerative disorders, including several small pilot clinical trials, little is known about their molecular mechanisms or their physiological roles in the nervous system...

Acrylamide (ACR) is a chemical intermediate utilized in industry. ACR is also formed during heating of foods containing carbohydrates and amino acids. Therefore, humans are widely exposed to ACR, and ACR neurotoxicity in humans is a significant public health issue attracting wide attention. In this study, we investigated the potential neuroprotective effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the most abundant polyphenolic compound in green tea, in PC12 cells treated with ACR. ACR-treated PC12 cells pretreated with various concentrations of EGCG (2...

: MicroRNAs (miRNA) play an important role in posttranscriptional gene regulation of several physiological and pathological processes. In multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic inflammatory and degenerative disease of the CNS, and in its mouse model, the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), miRNA dysregulation has been mainly related to immune system dysfunction and white matter pathology. However, little is known about their role in grey matter pathology. Here, we explored miRNA involvement in the inflammation-driven alterations of synaptic structure and function, collectively known as synaptopathy, a neuropathological process contributing to excitotoxic neurodegeneration in MS/EAE...